


Spy Family

by Toni



Category: Alias (TV), Star Wars - All Media Types
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-01
Updated: 2014-05-26
Packaged: 2018-01-17 18:33:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 8,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1398235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Toni/pseuds/Toni
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In an alternate GFFA in which the Prequel-Era Jedi allow attachments, what will happen between Obi-Wan and Siri? Inspired by the TV show "Alias" but you don't have to have seen the show to understand and enjoy. Written for NaNoWriMo 2011.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LVB](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LVB/gifts).



> Everything Galaxy Far Far Away specific is copyrighted by George Lucas. And Siri belongs to Jude Watson.   
> Those of you who know the show “Alias” will recognize some lines and situations, especially from the episodes “The Two” and “There’s only one Sidney Bristow”.

Eighteen Years before TPM  
Chapter 1  
“Simon Tachi, you have been found guilty of espionage against the Jedi Order.”

Simon had known this would happen one of these days, no matter how hard he tried to hide it behind Force shields. If he hadn’t been for working loyally for K-Directorate for so many years, he’d never had agreed to this in the first place. And then he’d fallen in love - or at least as close as he’d ever come to love – with a Jedi woman. He hadn’t wanted to leave his undercover persona after that, especially when he realized that Adi wanted to be with him as well.

His greatest regret was not galactic security and any risk he’d put the Jedi in. It was that he couldn’t look his wife and daughter in the eye anymore. Adi had been so furious that she hadn’t wanted to hear an explanation. Now he was certain that she considered him the enemy for betraying her beloved Order that had taken him in. Siri was still too young to understand and only knew that her father was gone and wasn’t coming back. But they were his family, even if he hadn’t been honest with them from the very beginning.

Now that was gone, and he didn’t expect to see them ever again. Siri would grow up without him, thinking that her father was a traitor. He wasn’t sure how the other Jedi would treat his precocious, curious daughter throughout the Galaxy after this. She wanted to be a Jedi like her mother so much and Simon hoped that dream hadn’t been completely dashed by his sending information to K-Directorate.

Stars, he missed both of them already, and he hadn’t even started his sentence in galactic prison yet. This was going to be absolutely miserable.

Of course, he probably should have thought of those years before, when he’d agreed to this suicide mission. Thinking that the Jedi would be understanding when they learned about him sending information along would have been so much more naïve than Simon was capable of. But he’d practically grown up on the streets and K-Directorate had rescued him from that and trained him and given him new skills. He felt that he owed them so much for changing his life around and then giving him a family he would have never had otherwise.

But now the passion that they’d shared had given way to utter loathing. At least they were both strong feelings.


	2. Chapter 2

Unlike most of the five year old initiates the Jedi Council gave the puzzle test to, Siri Tachi didn’t seem that intimidated by being surrounded by the Council members. Part of this was most likely because her mother was a Jedi and had told her about many meetings she had with them and what was expected during them. But another part of it was that Siri in general rarely seemed intimidated by anything. Even though she was still young, she’d probably explored just about every corner of the Temple. Her mother would never approve, but she didn’t care. 

Or at least she didn’t care until she was caught and her mother was disappointed in her, as she knew from her voice and the way she looked at her. It was somehow worse than if she’d yelled at her, but didn’t stop Siri’s curiosity for long and she was off exploring again.

But she turned her attention to the Council and what they were saying “Siri, we have a puzzle for you as we want to see how long it takes you to solve it. It’s the one we give to all the younglings” said Master Windu, beginning the meeting after Siri’s bow He held the puzzle out to her. 

“All right,” she replied, and walked up carefully. She took the puzzle from his hand and watched it, fascinated. 

“How do you play with it?” she asked when she couldn’t immediately figure it out.

“That’s for you to figure out,” he replied, almost – but not quite – cracking a smile.  
Siri had the sense that was all she would learn and that she was being dismissed. So she bowed again and quickly left the Council chambers. She was still fascinated with the puzzle, which would clearly take some time to solve. So she didn’t give up, trying to move it this way and that.

And after a couple of hours or so of twisting the puzzle into every position she’d thought possible at first and more, she knew that she’d solved it. It certainly made a perfect picture for the first time since she’d been playing with it.

So Siri ran into the Council chambers and held it out for the entire Jedi Council to see. She could tell that they were impressed, even though she watched carefully. 

She’d wondered before why the Council members seemed to show no emotion, but had never gotten an answer beyond “The Code forbids emotion.” So she’d learned to look carefully at the eyes and the edge of the mouth as well as use her senses. She rarely thought she was wrong after the fact.

And what she thought at this moment was that the Council was impressed with how fast she’d completed that puzzle.

“Why, some of us took longer to complete the puzzle when we were younglings,” one of the Masters said, confirming what Siri thought. “Your own mother took longer when she was your age.”

Siri burst into a smile, something she rarely did. She wanted to be a full Jedi Knight so badly, and this seemed to suggest that she was on the right track. She’d known that her sense ability wasn’t something that people outside the Temple had from her disappeared father, but she wasn’t sure if that would be enough. Now she had more reason to think she could be a Knight.

So Siri bowed politely, left the Council Chambers, and then let her face open into a huge grin. She knew she wouldn’t be able to talk about anything else for the rest of the day and maybe longer and knew she had to find her friends and her mother.


	3. Chapter 3

7 Years Before TPM

Chapter 3

As Siri Tachi was walking towards the ship, she wondered what exactly she was supposed to say to Taly Fry that wouldn't sound hollow. After all, he'd just been playing with making a homemade radio and had eavesdropped on whatever frequency he could find. How was he supposed to know he'd overhear bounty hunters planning an assassination? And when he went to the authorities, the bounty hunters quickly found out who had reported them. Now his parents had turned him over to the Jedi and she, Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi were going to be protecting him while he was waiting to testify against the bounty hunters.

At least Taly had a father. Hers had only sent letters for almost as long as she could remember. Oh, she vaguely remembered that she'd liked playing with him and that he was as blond as she was, but that was about all she remembered from the time he'd actually been living with them. Sometimes it was hard to fathom that they'd ever been a somewhat normal family with a mom, dad, and daughter.

She'd learned why he'd disappeared years later, when her mother felt that she was old enough to understand. Siri was actually rather disgusted at the whole thing, even though she did want the chance to get to know her father at the same time. It was all as complicated as it sounded.

Then there was Obi-Wan. She hadn't spoken to him much since she'd told him exactly what she'd thought of such a promising Padawan even thinking about leaving the Order. She hadn't understood all the reasons why at the time, but she'd assumed that there was no reason good enough to completely change his life when he'd been doing so well.

By the time she reached the ship, everyone else was already there. Taly and Qui-Gon were talking and she could sense Obi-Wan inside the ship.

"Taly Fry, meet Siri Tachi," said Master Qui-Gon, indicating her to the skinny dark-haired boy. "She'll be with us while we find some place to stay until the trial starts."

"Nice to meet you, Siri," Taly said quickly before turning back to Qui-Gon.

"And what about afterwards?" Taly asked him. "Do you really think the bounty hunters will get off my trail after I testify against them? I'm never going to be safe."

This was probably true. "He does have a point, Master Qui-Gon," Siri said. "Has the Order been thinking about his future?"

"We'll find a safe place for Taly," Gui-Gon said. He then turned to Taly. "I promise."

The three of them walked onto the ship to join Obi-Wan. When he turned to look at her, he seemed almost embarrassed that Siri was there at all.

So he hadn't forgotten about what they'd talked about the last time they'd met either. This could make for a long mission. Siri was starting to regret telling him how stupid he was that he could even think about leaving the Jedi.

"I'm glad you're still here, Obi-Wan," said Siri, trying to lessen the tension. He nodded and she could tell he was glad she was at least making an effort.

"Are you ready to take off?" asked Qui-Gon.

The three of them nodded, took their seats, and before they knew it, they were in space. However, they were not sure if they were being followed or not. So after they went into hyperspace, they all started talking about what their plan was and where they were going to go and what they were going to do if they got caught.

"We should fake a crash," suggested Obi-Wan. "Then any bounty hunters after Taly will think we're dead or at least won't be able to make the trial."

"Not a bad idea," said Gui-Gon. "We'll just have to find a suitable planet."

After some time looking over start charts of the area and debating the good parts and bad parts of each, they picked one named Quadrant Seven . It was habitable, but had a low population and some caves they could stay in.

"Hang on," said Obi-Wan when they were close enough to the planet that they could land.  
"This ride could turn out to be bumpy."

And sure enough, it was a rough ride. The ship went this way and that, careening through space. The four of them held on tight, however, and before they knew it, the ship was on the ground without too much damage. They then got out of the ship and looked around to see where they were and where they were going to stay for the time being.

In fact, they were on what looked like a savanna, with long green and brown grasses all around. There were mountains in the distance, although it was hard for Siri to tell exactly how long it would take for them to get there. At least when they did, they would have a good place to hide if it turned out that they were still being followed by the bounty hunters.

So the four of them made packs with tents, food and so on and headed towards the mountains. There they would let the Council as well as Taly's parents know what was going on and where they were. Then they would have to pass the time until they were scheduled to head back to Coruscant so that Taly could testify.

"Think we're going to get there before nightfall?" Siri asked Obi-Wan. She was careful to ask this in a tone that made it clear she wasn't complaining. It wasn't very Jedi-like to complain after all, and she'd never heard Obi-Wan complain.

"I hope so," he answered. "I don't want to have to keep walking across this savanna for days."

The two of them agreed on that and the tension was broken. Siri decided she was glad the two of them could keep on being friends. They'd probably have to go on at least one mission together after this, and Siri couldn't afford to lose any friends for good – she only had so many friends in the Temple.

This could have been due to the fact that she hadn't had a clan like the initiates who were brought in from non-Jedi families– or it could have been something else. She was a teenager and even she had to admit that was led to popularity among teenagers could be so fickle. This was even true among the Jedi padawans.

Luckily, they made it to the mountains after several hours and while being sure they weren't being followed. Although it was getting dark, they had lights they used to set up their tent and contact the Council and Taly's parents. They were relieved that everyone was fine and that they had at least a preliminary plan.

Then it was time to sit back and relax, and before Siri knew it, everyone was in a restless sleep in the tent.

The next day, Qui-Gon left to see if he could find civilization and get supplies. That's when it happened. Taly decided to go off exploring and let out some pent-up energy and although Obi-Wan and Siri had reservations about him being off on his own, they let him go as long as he promised to return soon. The two padawans started to explore the caves in the mountains and the two found themselves sitting on a rock near a waterfall.

"This is actually nice for a mission on which we're supposedly running for our lives, isn't it?" Obi-Wan asked her.

"It really is nice to just sit here and listen to the waterfall. It's too bad we can't stay longer."

The two met eyes and something clicked in the minds of both of them.

It didn't have to make sense, but Siri was sure she hadn't experienced anything like this before. She'd never noticed how Obi-Wan's voice was to listen to or how his smile and the way he carried himself was attractive. She'd known he was a great padawan, but this was the first time she'd noticed that he was a great man as well.

Her mother would say it was only a crush or infatuation, but Siri knew it was more. Somehow she would always point to this moment later as the one in which she realized that Obi-Wan Kenobi was the man the Force had given her.

And from what Siri could see and sense from Obi-Wan, he was thinking something along the same lines. This made the whole moment even more powerful – knowing so quickly that it was reciprocated.

Without saying anything, he kissed her. She found that her breath was almost taken away and the two kept on going, just appreciating it being just the two of them and having a moment of finding each other in a way they hadn't expected before this. They never wanted the moment to stop as it seemed to be so perfect.

But eventually they realized that Obi-Wan and Taly would be looking for them and tried not to sigh. They slowly walked out of the caves, missing the privacy and that they would never have the same in a Temple full of Force users.

This made Siri wonder how her parents had survived those years being married in the Temple. Well, they had both had good Force shields. That was the only possible way her father had avoided being caught by the Jedi for so long. They must have used them for those times that a daughter does not want to think about her parents having as well.

When they found Qui-Gon, they knew that they weren't ready to say anything about what had just happened. Somehow they knew that they wanted to keep to themselves that they were – Siri used the thought for the first time – in love with each other. At least that was what she thought it was – not that she'd ever been in love before. But she knew love when she'd found it.


	4. Chapter 4

Soon enough, Taly had returned with the news that he’d found many trees somewhere nearby which had managed to thrive even though the soil was poor in the mountains. Siri and Obi-Wan took off to collect some wood for the fire. This would actually be interesting as they were never able to have campfires on Coruscant. The two of them glanced at each other whenever Taly, who had insisted on coming with them, wasn’t looking.  
“Have you ever done anything like this?” Siri asked Obi-Wan.  
“What do you mean?” he asked. Sometimes Obi-Wan could answer a question with a question. Somehow that didn’t bother her as much now that they were – well, whatever it was that they were.

“Having a campfire in the middle of nowhere.”

“No, actually. Has your mother or your Master ever taken you camping?”

“Not at all. That’s what makes this special.”

They stopped and got back to work as Taly approached, and before they knew it, they were back at the campsite and the four of them were cooking for the first time in a while.

“How much longer do we have here?” asked Taly. He’d actually been good before that about not whining.

“Actually, we should be getting back tomorrow to start preparing your testimony,” Answered Qui-Gon.

This made Siri start to wonder what going back to normal life would be like after this mission. Would she and Ob-Wan ever want to be a couple that everyone knew about? Although she had never thought of herself as in a secret relationship, she didn’t feel ready to tell anyone yet about the two of them.

And looking at Obi-Wan, neither did he. And maybe the two of them weren’t even sure why yet, but they just wanted to keep something so special to themselves for a while.

Or maybe they thought Qui-Gon and Adi would tell them it was only a crush and not to take it too seriously. They didn’t want anyone say anything that would, so to speak, burst their bubble.

And Jedi Masters were so predictable when it came to what they would say when two teenagers announced that they’d fallen in love.

In any case, the next day they started back to the ship to find that they’d have trouble before they’d even arrived. Qui-Gon was the first to sense the bounty hunters. Soon the padawans could as well.

“I’m sure they’re waiting for us near the ship,” he told the three.

“What are we going to do?” asked Taly.

“We don’t have any other way off planet,” said Qui-Gon. “We’ll have to fight them and then take off as quickly as we can.”

“What about using the Jedi Mind Trick?” asked Obi-Wan. 

“We can try, but they could be too strong-minded,” replied Qui-Gon.

They started walking more slowly and the Jedi tried to learn what they could from what they could sense from the bounty hunters. Siri thought that if they tried as hard as they could, they might be able to get them to leave the area around the ship long enough to allow them to take off without getting shot at.

So they did, and it worked. Or at least it seemed too until they returned just as they entered the ship. Of course, they started shooting at the ship, but even blaster bullets couldn’t affect it much. Still, their take-off turned out to be a rocky as their landing had been, but at least they made it off planet with minimal damage to their ship and were soon on their way back to testify against the friends of those bounty hunters.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Yes, I know we’re doing a lot of skipping ahead. I’ll be stopping that soon.

8 years later  
Chapter 5

As Obi-Wan and Anakin went through the “borrowed” ship getting excited over every little detail, Siri couldn’t help but smile. This sounded like this perfect mission – use the ship that was currently in custody, pretend to be the owners for a while, and talk someone from the Covenant on Ronin into going with them off planet so they could be extradited. How they were going to do this would be the hardest part, but for now they were going to have fun using Slam and Valadon’s things, which were very different from their own. Although this made sense, considering that Slam and Valadon were thieves who supposedly had very different personalities from Obi-Wan and Siri, it was still something to actually see in person.

Siri realized just how different the things that Slam and Valadon owned were when Obi-Wan found Valadon’s wardrobe and starting going through the clothes he found in there.

“I think you’d look good in this,” he said, handing her a miniskirt. He was attempting to keep a straight face, even when Siri rolled her eyes. She’d heard Valadon was a major flirt, and her wardrobe seemed to confirm it.

“Is there anything better in there?” she asked, trying not to sound like she was whining. She just couldn’t imagine going around Ronin wearing that and looking even somewhat comfortable.

“It’s all just as bad,” answered Obi-Wan, trying to sound apologetic. Siri knew very well that he liked the idea of seeing her in these types of clothes. She, however, was thinking Valadon was an absolute embarrassment to their gender as she went through Valadon’s wardrobe herself and confirmed that Obi-Wan was right.

Before long, though, she’d found Slam’s wardrobe. It was her turn to snort as it was, in its way, just as good for Obi-Wan as Valadon’s was for her.

“Look at this,” she called, tossing Obi-Wan a brightly colored tunic. He turned up his nose, but put it on afterwards. Trying to be a good sport, Siri put on the miniskirt and one of the matching entirely too revealing tops. And as soon as the two calmed down, which took a little longer than it should have according to the “No emotion” Jedi ideals, they got together with Anakin to decide what they were going to do when they reached Ronin in a couple of days.

“First, we’ve got to let everyone on Ronin know the Slam gang is here,” said Siri. “And then comes the tricky part.” 

“How to get Jenna Van Arbor to agree to go on a joyride with us,” finished Obi-Wan.

“And what do we do if we meet somebody who’s met the Slams before?” asked Anakin.

“The Slams have never been to Ronin before, their reputation is just known there, so hopefully we won’t,” said Obi-Wan. “But we’d have to make a run for it in that case. Most of the beings living there aren’t exactly supportive of the Jedi.” Which would be explained by so many being on the run from the law.

“Let’s pretend we need Van Arbor to get past some sort of biometics security scan,” Started Anakin. “I know she’s supposed to be about the best at getting through fingerprint and retina scans.”

Obi-Wan and Siri thought that was a good idea, and they started searching the Holonet, trying to find the perfect place that used biometric scans and where the Slam gang would want to go. It didn’t take long to find a bank vault near Ronin that would only answer to the retina scan of someone who worked there or had an account there. They’d have to promise Jenna Van Arbor a piece of the profits and ask her help in overriding the scans. Hopefully they wouldn’t do anything that would make her suspicious before getting off the planet, which, as it was their first time undercover and Van Arbor didn’t exactly have a reputation for being gullible, seemed likely.

Before they knew it, they had received permission to land on a docking bay on Ronin, which never asked too many questions about business there. Not having rendition to any other planet in the galaxy meant that many underworlders lived there, and no higher-up on Ronin seemed to mind as long as it was not made obvious right in front of them.

They made their way to the hotel, and Siri was fairly sure that every single young man was watching her in a way that made Obi-Wan look entirely too smug. She forced herself to smile back but was thinking she probably couldn’t keep from sighing when the three were alone together. If she kept getting stared at, this was going to turn into a long mission.

At the hotel, they gave the clerk enough money for a stay of several days and the Slam’s ID’s, which they had gotten from Coruscant law enforcement and put their own pictures on.

“Welcome to Ronin, Slam and Valadon,” he said, looking right at Siri. “And what brings you here?”

“We’re trying to escape a run-in with the law on Coruscant,” Obi-Wan answered.

“That’s too bad,” said the clerk, looking right at Siri with the look she now thought she’d gotten from half the men on Ronin. “Would you like me to give you a tour of the planet? It’s the best in the entire Galaxy.”

“That would be great,” Siri said, batting her eyelashes. “Why don’t Slam and I bring our bags up and we’ll set up a time soon?”

“Do you need any help with your bags?” he asked, a little too enthusiastically to be entirely professional.

“No thank you,” Obi-Wan answered, and they were on their way up to their floor.

They brought their bags in their room, unpacked a little, and checked for bugs. They didn’t see any right away, but they knew they couldn’t be too careful on a world like this one.  
“So how long should we wait before paying Van Arbor a visit?” asked Anakin.

“Let’s wait a while or she’ll definitely be suspicious, “said Obi-Wan. “And do you know what we can do in the meantime?”

“What?” Siri asked.

“Go on a tour of the best planet in the entire Galaxy,” Obi-Wan said, somehow managing to keep a straight face.

A pillow found its way through the air and towards Obi-Wan’s head. He had to move quickly to avoid getting hit by it.


	6. Chapter 6

After spending some time at some of the hot spots on the planet, Siri, Obi-Wan and Anakin were just amazed at how quickly word spread that Slam, Valadon, and their thief apprentice were on Ronin after something happened on Coruscant. Although it was sometimes hard for them to always keep in character, they were almost enjoying a chance to be someone different for a while. And nobody seemed that suspicious about what could actually be happening or that they might not actually be the Slam gang. Siri was especially surprised how easy it was to convince everyone that they were really a gang of thieves. She supposed this was possible only on Ronin, where everyone felt unusually safe while escaping from their legal problems.

However, there was no Jenna Zan Arbor in sight at any of the places they went, which meant that the three of them would eventually have to go to her house. None of them were happy about that idea as they had no clue how they would be received by her, but it was an important part of the mission to get her, and then the Covenant.

The day after that realization, they found themselves in front of Zan Arbor’s house. It was huge, but uninviting with a fence and barred windows. They rang the doorbell in front of the house and waited.  
After a minute, a droid came rolling out. “Mistress Zan Arbor would like to know who you are and what your business is,” it told them.

“It’s the Slam gang, and we’re here to give your Mistress a business offer,” said Obi-Wan. The driod went rolling back inside, and soon the gate was opened.

Siri took a deep breath, and then they all went in. They were greeted by Jenna Zan Arbor herself, who directed them to sit on a couch in her spacious living room. There were statues, holopictures, and the furniture was among the most expensive in the Galaxy. As for 

Jenna Zan Arbor herself, she was tall and thin, with a long face and eyes that seemed as though they could look right through you. Even though Siri didn’t know how Zan Arbor could possibly know who they actually were, she found herself getting nervous and wishing she hadn’t had to leave her lightsaber in the hotel room to get away with any of Valadon’s outfits.

“So, I heard you three were on Ronin,” she began. “What is that business deal my droid mentioned that brings you here?”

“We’re interested in breaking into a certain bank vault,” began Obi-Wan, “except we’d have to disable the retina scan they use as their security.”

“And we heard you’re the best in the Galaxy about disabling biometics,” said Siri. “We’d give you a portion of the profits, of course.”  
Van Arbor gave her – or was it her clothes - an annoyed look. Well, at least that was different from the looks she’d been getting ever since she arrived on Ronin.

“Is this bank vault off planet?” asked Zan Arbor. Alarm bells started to ring in the minds of all three Jedi.  
“Yes,” said Obi-Wan. “But we would have you back on Ronin in a couple of days.”

“Unfortunately, my skills are only for use by the Covenant right now,” said Zan Arbor. “And as you can see, I’m not in need of money. I do wish you three luck with this venture of yours though.”

And with that, they found themselves ushered to Jenna Zan Arbor’s front door.  
“What are we going to do now?” Anakin asked as soon as they were out of earshot.


	7. Chapter 7

After spending some time going over their options, they decided that the best thing to do would be to somehow convince Zan Arbor that she was being called back to the offices of The Covenant.

“It’ll get her of this planet so that she can get arrested,” said Siri, “But we’d need The Covenant’s password and know how they word messages if we want to be convincing.”

“Let’s take advantage of still being able to be Slam and Valadon,” said Obi-Wan. “We can ask The Covenant for a partnership of some kind and use that to get into their offices. Then we get their password and send a message to Zan Arbor. Then we arrest her when she gets to wherever she’s supposedly going on a mission.”

It still seemed like a long shot, but Siri and Anakin agreed that it was the best chance they had at this point. And with Anakin’s skills and midicholorian count, they had a hunch that they could get the password if they were left alone near one of The Covenant’s computers. It was really a shame that they would be sure to be too strong minded to use a Jedi mind trick to make sure that happened. But they didn’t suppose an organization like the Covenant would have someone that weak minded - they appreciated having people who couldn’t be talked into going against them easily.

The three of them took their time writing the message to make sure The Covenant would be interested as well as to make sure of course that it sounded as though it actually came from the Slam gang. They then waited for a response. When none came right away, they spent time doing what they had been, although Siri was getting even more tired of having to be Valadon all the time and was starting to wonder what would happen if the Covenant didn’t get back to them. It wasn’t like they had several alternate plans in mind.

However, they did get a cautious reply from them eventually. The message didn’t promise anything, naturally, but it was an invitation to go to their offices and talk to them at least, and if everything went well, perhaps they could work together if it was a good deal for everyone.

They knew they would have to prepare for this. After all, they would only get one chance. So they decided to have one of their contacts get a hold of the Covenant when they were inside. Hopefully this would create enough of a distraction that they would be alone next to a computer for a minute – as that was all the time they needed. He was just happy to have a chance to get revenge on The Covenant and liked the idea that he could play an important part in bringing it down.

And at first, everything seemed to be just fine. Siri was nervous as they were approaching the Covenant building. Here it was, a keep cover or risk being shot at situation, and she didn’t think for a minute that they wouldn’t be at all suspicious. Even though nobody on Ronin had appeared to suspect that they were not actually the Slam Gang, this would be harder as anyone who went into Covenant buildings could obtain evidence necessary to get a warrant for their buildings.

Sure enough, the first thing they heard at the entrance was “Please show your identification,” from the guard droid. They were able to show Slam and Valadon’s actual IDs, which had been confiscated by Coruscant law enforcement when they were arrested. The droid led them into a room with bars on the windows and of course, with no computer. Then they were told to wait until the Covenant representative was ready to talk to them. From what Siri could sense from Obi-Wan and Anakin, they were just as nervous as she was, and that didn’t happen easily. They had no way of knowing what was going to happen next, and in a place like this, that was rarely a good thing.

Finally, one of the Covenant agents came in to talk to them. “The Slam gang. I must admit the idea working with such a well-known gang of thieves is intriguing. We could use people like you. But we need more details of the plan you have – that is, how exactly we can help each other.”

“Of course,” said Obi-Wan. “As we explained to Jenna Zan Arbor, we’re looking for someone who can disable the biometrics system of a certain bank vault. However, she said that she is working for you and would rather not leave Ronin.”

“She absolutely is working for us,” he said. “And we don’t want to order her to leave a planet that she feels comfortable on. If you offer enough of a percentage of the profits, however, we may be able to find someone to work with you.”

“We can offer a generous percentage of the profits,” said Siri. “But we hear that Zan Arbor is the best at disabling biometric security. Do you have anyone as good as she is?”

“We do have a man who is quite capable of disabling biometric scans,” he said.

This was an interesting development. “Would we be able to meet him?” Siri asked.

“Of course. He’s here now. Why don’t you come in and you can talk to him about this plan of yours? If he’s interested and you three check out, we may be able to work together.”

He then started to lead them further into the building. The three of them couldn’t look at each other while heading in for fear that they’d give their excitement away. They managed to stay calm and professional when they realized that the new room they’d be waiting in did in fact have a computer.

“I’m going to get him,” said the man. “Just stay here and he’ll be right in.”  
“Keep your lightsabers ready to go,” said Obi-Wan as soon as they were alone. “They’re suspicious. For all we know, they may come in with blasters going.”

So Siri and Obi-Wan kept their weapons ready, yet not too obviously out in case they were actually well-disposed towards them after all while Anakin sent a message to their contact to try and create a commotion.

Soon enough, there was an alarm going off throughout the Covenant facility. That’s when Anakin tried to break into the computer to find the password that they’d need to make it appear that the message had actually come from the Covenant. His concentration even with the noise of both the alarm and running feet was amazing.

“We’ve got it,” called Anakin excitedly after a minute. “As soon as we get out of here we can start writing that message to Zan Arbor.”  
The three of them sat down and tried to appear to be as calm as possible with their hands ready to go to their hidden lightsaber if necessary.

After another minute, with nobody coming in to get them, the Jedi were starting to think they’d been forgotten about. So they started to simply walk out with the last of the Covenant workers, thinking about how well this was working.  
And sure enough, once they were outside the building, nobody was paying much attention to them in the chaos. They were able to get in their ship and out of there without any problem except having to tell someone who called that they should stay that they’d be back later. They didn’t want to cause any problems with the alarms going off. 

Now came the time to see if that password would actually work. First, they had to compose the message to Jenna Zan Arbor and they hadn’t even decided on the details of the mission the Covenant was supposedly giving her. They talked about this for a while and decided that they needed her to deliver one of her inventions to a client of theirs. They were apologetic that she would have to leave her comfortable home, but this client, who could bring in quite a bit of money for the Covenant, would only talk to her. All this was written down and the password worked, so they knew the message had been sent to Zan Arbor. She would be reading it before long.

What the Jedi didn’t know was whether or not this message would be believed by her. Although they didn’t think that she could have any proof of who had actually sent the message, they also weren’t exactly sure what the writing style of the Covenant heads were. 

They also weren’t sure whether they would actually send her on a mission off of Ronin, no matter how tempting it was. After all, Jenna Zan Arbor didn’t exactly seem like the type who was used to being told what to do, and they had at least been told that she wasn’t interested in leaving. So she might know very well that this was just a ruse to get her to leave the safety of Ronin.  
Even when they got the reply, it still wouldn’t be clear what Jenna Zan Arbor actually thought. After all, she might pretend to believe the message while hoping to trap the fraud who was pretending to be someone from the Covenant. And the three Jedi knew all of this very well and were planning for every possibility. They were going to have backup at the supposed who had permission to arrest her and would be well armed. They were also trying to think about what they would do if Zan Arbor never responded to the message, which was a possibility if she knew it was a fraud and simply wanted to keep safe on Ronin.  
Jenna Zan Arbor did, however, respond to the message. She claimed that it would be just fine to meet this client of the Covenant’s, but she would rather they come to Ronin if they wanted her invention so badly.


	8. Chapter 8

The three of them tried to think of a reason why the Covenant’s mysterious client couldn’t go to Ronin to meet Zan Arbor. After thinking of several ideas, they decided to explain that this was such an important client that they didn’t want him to have to travel.   
The Covenant was concerned that they would lose this client if they insisted that he go to Ronin. This would, of course, involve losing all the money they had invested towards Zan Arbor’s invention until they could find a new client. So would Zan Arbor be able to leave the planet just for a brief period and help her employers, without whom the invention wouldn’t be possible?

“That should do it,” said Obi-Wan after they had written it down and revised it. “I think we’re ready to send that reply back to Zan Arbor.”

While holding her breath, Siri sent the latest message. This time, as she’d at least responded before, they weren’t as worried about her not responding again and leaving them with no idea of what she was thinking. They even took a break from being undercover as they were now some distance away from Covenant facilities. This was great as they could finally be themselves and use the computer to get caught up on some non-mission related business.

“I’m sure you’re missing being Slam,” she told Obi-Wan.

“About as much as you’re missing being Valadon,” he told her with a smirk.

But soon enough, there was a reply from Zan Arbor. They all were more nervous than they cared to admit as they checked the message. But sure enough, Zan Arbor was in fact willing to leave Ronin after all, if she could do it at this moment. She explained that this was to avoid having other spy agencies and such find out she was leaving. They replied that was fine and instantly started preparing for her arrival at the alley. Obviously things would start moving fast when Zan Arbor realized that they weren’t actually interested in buying something from her. They had to have people there to arrest her who were actually prepared to deal with her, just out of sight.

Seemingly five minutes before Zan Arbor was scheduled to arrive for the sale, they were as ready as they could be for her. There were going to be blasters pointed at her from every hidden corner while one of the agents was going to pretend to be buying from her. The three Jedi were going to be in the area in case Zan Arbor tried anything while the agents were trying to arrest her. At least they’d be able to show up with their lightsabers going momentarily if it proved necessary. And somehow the Jedi thought that it might be necessary, even though they weren’t exactly sure if she was Force-sensitive or not. She was well trained by the Covenant or someone like them at least, and she would be fighting and desperate not to get caught. There was a saying that a caged animal was just about the most dangerous thing in the Galaxy, and they hoped they hadn’t made a mistake by turning Jenna Zan Arbor into a caged animal.

As for Zan Arbor, she arrived at the alleyway right on schedule, apparently ready to sell her invention. She seemed suspicious, though, or at least moving slowly with her eyes everywhere.  
However, she at least approached the man who was posing as the buyer and started to appear to talk to him. She took the invention out of her speeder and showed it to the man who inspected it. After that he gave the motion that the team should start moving in to arrest her. They then proceeded to speak some more, but the Jedi couldn’t hear what was being said from that distance. They wished that they could so they would know exactly what was going on and just how suspicious Zan Arbor was.  
Of course, that was when events started happening more quickly than Siri could have thought possible. As the team came closer, Zan Arbor noticed one of them and started shooting. Siri tried to call Zan Arbor’s blaster to her, but had more trouble than she thought she should. Whether the difficulty was because she was nervous or because Zan Arbor was actually doing something to manipulate the Force wasn’t ever perfectly clear.

After a few seconds though, the blaster was in Siri’s hands and Zan Arbor was on the run. “Don’t worry about that,” said the team leader to them. “They all try that, but we’ll catch her before she gets back to Ronin.”

“Of course,” they said. “We’ll stay here and help you catch her.” They really weren’t all that reassured however, even though they knew the team had a point from their missions and watching the holonews. Criminals who ran when they were cornered never seemed to escape for long and then they ended up getting a longer sentence for “Avoiding the Authorities.” This should have been an assurance to the Jedi that their mission would soon be at an end. 

The Jedi didn’t think the team had dealt with anyone quite like Zan Arbor. But the team did impress them by finding Zan Arbor’s ship right away from where she’d apparently landed when she arrived on the planet. The Jedi had to admit they didn’t know how she was planning to get back to Ronin without it unless she stole a ship. That wasn’t out of the realm of possibility, but of course there was no way to predict which ship or even what kind of ship she would consider stealing for her trip back home. She certainly did have wealthy tastes, but that meant nothing when looking for a desperate escape ship.  
The team was listening for any reports of stolen ships, however, and there weren’t any suspicious reports. So they continued to surround the ship in case she was ever going to return to it. The Jedi however, had a feeling that she knew very well that her ship would be surrounded and therefore she’d never come back to it. She’d be looking for an alternative way to get back to Ronin, where she would just remake her invention and try to figure out what had happened with the Covenant. Then the Jedi would be back to the beginning of their mission and were running out of ideas on how to catch her. So their only chance would be for a report to come in, and they were willing to wait for some time to allow that to happen, as Zan Arbor was wanted on several planets.

“What if the report never comes in?” asked Anakin. Neither Obi-Wan nor Siri knew what to answer, for they were as desperate as   
Anakin was to catch her and have this mission finished.

“It’s got to,” Obi-Wan finally said. “She can’t have disappeared, and it’s not like her to lay too low for long.” Nobody seemed that convinced, however. They’d already taken longer than they’d told the Council to catch Zan Arbor, and it was looking like it might take a while longer. Still, patience was considered a virtue among the Jedi, even if it wasn’t one they all perfectly had.  
Finally, there was a report of a stolen ship that seemed to be similar to the one that Zan Arbor had arrived in. Although there was no proof that she had in fact stolen it, the team as well as the Jedi decided that it was better to pretend that she did. They were amazed at how quickly all the spaceports in the area were given the description of the stolen ship. It really appeared that there was finally no escape for Zan Arbor – there was no way she’d be allowed to leave the planet with a ship that had been stolen, and her own ship was surrounded. It wasn’t exactly easy to take-off from almost any planet in the Galaxy without permission.  
Before long, there was a report from one of the spaceports that the stolen ship had asked for permission to depart the planet. Everyone got excited and headed towards the spaceport while telling the port monitors to not allow the ship to take off under any circumstances and to at least delay the ship until they arrived. When they arrived, sure enough, it was Zan Arbor who was trying to leave the planet. She started to look resigned to being arrested, looking upset and moving slowly.

That is, she looked like that until the team actually came towards her to arrest her – which honestly wasn’t much of a surprise to anyone, even without the Force. She fought back harder than the Jedi thought possible, so they had to come in to assure that she wouldn’t escape again. Letting her know that they weren’t actually Slam and Valadon and had been sending her messages seemed to be the least of their problems at this point. They had to get both their blasters and lightsabers out – and use them to block blaster bolts - to get her to agree to be arrested and go with the team.

And then they were finally able to breathe their sigh of relief when she was arrested and wouldn’t be able to cause problems or get back to Ronin –at least for a while. It would have felt good even if it wasn’t also a relief to be able to give Slam and Valadon their wardrobes back and get back to ordinary life.

Well, at least what passed for ordinary life when studying the Force and going on missions around the Galaxy was normal life. They knew that didn’t exactly qualify as normal by most of the Galaxy’s citizens, but they wouldn’t have it any other way. Being part of the Jedi community and being intimate with the Force was worth every hardship.


End file.
